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Walking the Basque Country

£10.00

Landscapes of the BASQUE COUNTRY: walks and car tours

by Philip Cooper

Another great book in the blue bible series. Info is great and useful. (Big red bus, Amazon)

Excellent… Using this guide book really enhanced my walking holiday in the Basque Country, a region which has to be one of Europe’s best kept secrets. The practical details given are first class and the book is an essential
companion for anyone planning to visit the area. (Mr M, Amazon)

For the traveller with limited time but who wants to get to know the Basque Country beyond its cities, it’s hard to know what more you could reasonably ask for. I’ve lived in the area for decades and have used this guide to get to know some unfamiliar corners better… Excellent. (MW, Amazon)

Click below to read walker’s reviews and use the ‘Look Inside’ feature on Amazon.co.uk (RRP £12.99)

Or, purchase the complete book as a downloadable PDF using the Add to Basket button below (£10).

This is the first guide to bring together walks and tours in the Basque Country, which runs east from Bilbão in Spain to Biarritz in France and takes in famous places like Pamplona and stages on the Camino de Santiago. The entire Basque coast is mostly very rugged, with many thriving fishing towns and villages, plus the added attraction of splendid beaches. Inland the countryside is more mountainous, with lush green countryside. Don’t miss the award-winning Guggenheim Museum in Bilbão, the Pilgrims’ Route to Santiago, the San Fermines fiestas at Iruña-Pamplona, or stunning coastal resorts like Donostia-San Sebastián and Biarritz. But most of all, explore the remote picture-postcard villages and lush mountainous countryside straddling both sides of the Pyrenees — preferably on foot.

The best months for walking in the Basque Country are from May to October, but many of the walks can be done all year round.

The book covers a very large area; touring the Basque Country by car is the best way to access all the walks in the book. Suggestions are given for accommodation, with details of how to make advance reservations on the web.

Updates for walks and car tours (drives) in the Basque Country given below supplement those provided in the guidebook. It is vital that this Update is read in conjunction with the text of the book, but note that the Update applies only to the edition stated and not to any earlier editions. (If you have an older edition of this book you can “upgrade” to the latest edition at half price.)

Information has been forwarded to us by users of the book, and Sunflower Books offers the data in good faith but cannot be held responsible for any misleading or inaccurate content in the Update. Unless indicated otherwise, what appears here has not been verified by the author or publisher, so please allow due caution when new or amended routes are suggested. Each piece of information is dated; bear in mind that some of the older observations may have since been overtaken by events or further changes. If, during your holiday, you are using the current edition of the guide and are able to provide any additional updating to add to this page, we will be pleased to hear from you. Please send information, preferably by e-mail, to info@sunflowerbooks.co.uk.

General: The Basque “fronton”: In response to a comment made about the absence of an explanation about the word frontón, which appears in many of the walk descriptions in the book, I would like to clarify that this refers to the traditional pelota court found in every town and village throughout the Basque Country. In the USA, the sport pelota it is referred to as jai alai (literally meaning “happy fiesta” in Basque), and is played everywhere around the world where Basques have traditionally emigrated and settled (Florida, Oklahoma, Idaho and Nevada in particular in the USA, throughout South America and the Philippines, for instance). It is something like a Basque version of outdoor squash and can be played as singles or doubles. The frontón is one of the most iconic images of the Basque provinces and I would highly recommend seeing a match to anyone visiting the region – it is a very fast game and huge bets are sometimes placed on big matches. (Author, 10/17)

Walk 2: At Besabi there is a very new (possibly only this season) plinth with 3 information boards, opposite the Bar/Restaurant. There are also a number of very new finger post signs erected at all of the footpath junctions we came across, detailing both long distance and local paths… We found the time allowed to Menhir de Etemeta (1 hour and 5 minutes) a little over ambitious. Without breaks we took 1 hour and 20 minutes and the new finger post gave a time of 1 hour and 25 minutes… We failed to find the return route from the summit and found that we had followed the black dotted route, as shown on the map, which returns you to a junction marked by a finger post. In our opinion, since the new sign posts have been erected walkers are now following those routes and thus the paths are very defined. (User, 9/17)

Walk 21: Please note that at peak times (summer every day and weekends throughout the year) it is now necessary to book a time to visit the Urederra nature reserve through the website http://www.nacederourederra.com/. This is intended to control visitor numbers (limited now to 450 a day) so as to keep the area pristine, and the policy seems to be working. Click on “reservar entradas” on the left side of the home page and then click where it says “pincha aqui para hacer tu reserva”. Then you can choose the English language option at the top of the page that appears with dates. Simply click on the date and complete a short form with personal details and you will be sent a confirmation reference number by email shortly afterwards which you need to show on arrival at the car park entrance in Baquedano village, where you will be given a sticker to authorise you to enter. Visitors must arrive by 12:00 noon or the booking will be cancelled and given to someone else. This procedure should not put anyone off visiting as the walk is delightful! (Author, 10/17)

Walk 26: This was the first attempt at a walk on our visit but we could not find the start as we did not know what a fronton was. We had read all the information in the book about the Basque country (but not the car tours and individual walks) and found no definition of a fronton. It is actually a bell shaped wall as part of a court used for playing a local game, pelota. This fronton is actually outside of the main development of the village. (User, 9/17)

Walk 25: The “unsurfaced” road is actually smooth concrete sections from the old church to a cattle grid and then tarmac, which is in superb condition, up to and beyond the Col d’Azpegi. There would be no problem in driving it and parking at the Refuge… The track to follow at the 2 hour 40 minute point was unclear, but a scramble up to the road and a left turn led to the cromlech and information boards. (User, 9/17)

Short walk for motorists 16: The instructions say to re-enter the forest on the SL.NA65. There was no finger post at this point but a new plastic topped red/white/green marker indicated the path. (User, 9/17)